A huge new 1.5 update of the beloved Stardew Valley farm simulation surprise launched this week. I already told you about it on Wednesday, but I played a good few hours, so I’ll tell you more about it because it’s so good. For a new beach farm it is worth running a new save file as well as for any other new quality of life changes.
I’ve always found that the annual Stardew Valley updates are pretty good at introducing changes that make the game better without shaking everything you know about it. I never started Stardew after a big update and I felt lost and confused. Such is the path with update 1.5. The beach farm map is fresh and new, but it won’t completely change the routine you’re familiar with.
Here’s a look at the whole thing and, actually, wait. Now I spotted that entrance to the cave in the lower left corner. I don’t know if that leads anywhere, but I’m adding to my list of things to explore.
The beach is a nice change of scenery, but keep in mind that you can’t put sprinklers in the sand. This means that, after looking for farm automation, you will need to hurry to unlock the greenhouse or clean up that plot of dirt covered with large logs. Otherwise it’s you and your best friend forever.
If you to do if you want to shake up your usual Stardew formula a bit more, don’t miss the Advanced game options under the wrench button when launching a new save file. Remixing the ingredients needed to complete community community bundles is a worthwhile change. I’m sure I can’t be the only person who can recite the items needed for a spring food bundle and a spring crop bundle.
There are various nice little changes that you can find if you look for them. For example, the option hidden in the menu is the option to change the audible warning when a fish is caught on your hook. I’m so conditioned by the default noise that I couldn’t stick to any new choices, but hey, they’re cute.
The biggest and best part of the new update is the one that ConcernedApe has decided not to spoil in the announcement of 1.5 updates from Wednesday, which I will also be sure of. If you want to speed up your journey to the coldest (and busiest) part of update 1.5, be sure to load one of your saved accounts that is several years old and check out that new door at Willy’s shop that was teased earlier this year.
Also in the announcement of the update, ConcernedApe closed with “Next year there will be more announcements regarding the Stardew Valley (and maybe later …) which we look forward to.” He also said earlier that Stardew Valley 2 is out of the question and that he wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually makes a few more updates to Stardew itself. No matter what next year brings, there are a lot more Stardews to chew on right now.